Vallejo elementary school on brief lockdown after 'prank' threat

Pennycook Elementary School in Vallejo was briefly placed on lockdown Wednesday after school officials received a threatening call of a man coming to campus with a gun. The call appears to be a prank, police said. (Lanz Christian Ba es/Times-Herald)

By By Sarah Rohrs and Lanz Christian Banes/Times-Herald staff writers,

Published By Times Herald

A Vallejo elementary school was briefly locked down Wednesday after a caller threatened to bring a gun onto campus, police said.

The man, who did not identify himself, called the Pennycook Elementary School at 9:02 a.m. on Fernwood Drive in East Vallejo and said he was "not feeling well. He was a former student and he was going to come to school with a weapon," Sgt. Herman Robinson said.

After receiving the call, school officials summoned police and put the facility on lockdown, which involves securing doors and windows, turning off lights and making sure students and staff are safe, officials said.

No one arrived on campus, Herman said, and the call "appears to be a prank."

"No body showed up," he added.

Around 10:15 a.m. police lifted the lockdown, and business at the school resumed, officials said.

During the lockdown several parents came onto campus to ensure that their children were safe.

Vallejo City Unified School District spokeswoman Alana Shackelford said no one was hurt.

She added the school principal made a mass recorded "call out" to all parents advising them when the lockdown was in place and then another call to parents when it was lifted.

School officials do not know who the caller was, and are looking into the incident, Shackelford said.

Parent Alona Austria, who has a boy in the third grade, said she was afraid and came over to check on her child.

"Everything's fine now," she said. "The kids were under the desks," taking actions they had learned in emergency drills, she added.

Superintendent Ramona Bishop and Vallejo Police Chief Joseph Kreins released a joint statement Wednesday praising officers and school staff, including Principal Pat Jennings. As a preventative measure, the district is placing a site safety supervisor team on Pennycook for the remainder of the day, the statement said.